The Social Security Act limits the amount of benefits paid to children and spouses of retired, disabled, and deceased individuals. The maximum amount that can be paid to children or spouses of a beneficiary combined is referred to as the “family maximum,” the report stated.
If the total monthly benefits paid exceed the family maximum limit, SSA is obliged to reduce such payments to bring them in line with the threshold, according to the report.
In the audit, the OIG analyzed 23,603 Social Security records of benefit payments, estimating that the SSA correctly adjusted benefits for 15,211 of these records in accordance with the family maximum provisions.
However, “SSA improperly paid approximately $114 million to spouses and children on 8,392 wage earners’ records (36 percent),” the report stated.
This includes both underpayments and overpayments. For instance, the OIG checked 225 samples from the 23,603 records and identified SSA to have made $1 million in underpayments and $189,940 in overpayments.
A similar review was conducted in March 2014. At the time, the OIG found that the agency did not always properly adjust benefits to spouses and children, according to the report. The OIG had also recommended several actions to deal with the issue.
The OIG stated: “Although SSA took actions to address our prior audit findings, employees continued to inaccurately compute the benefits for spouses and children who were entitled to benefits on multiple records. We were unable to determine why employees incorrectly performed these functions.”
It recommended that SSA identify factors contributing to employee errors and institute necessary actions to correct the problem.
When SSA underpays beneficiaries such as spouses and children, their financial well-being may be negatively affected, the watchdog said.
“Conversely, when beneficiaries are overpaid, they are generally required to reimburse the Agency for the overpayment, which can cause additional financial burdens on the beneficiaries and their family. Moreover, when this occurs, the Agency may not be able to fully recover the funds,” it stated.
In Sept. 12 comments submitted to acting Inspector General Michelle L. Anderson, SSA chief of staff Chad Poist said the agency reviewed the draft audit report and agreed with the OIG’s recommendations.
Over the past year, multiple reports have been published regarding improper payments made by SSA.
A December 2024 OIG memo found SSA to have issued roughly $91 million to 2,683 beneficiaries listed as dead in New York City data.
“From fiscal years 2015 through 2022, SSA paid almost $8.6 trillion in benefits and made approximately $71.8 billion (0.84 percent) in improper payments, most of which were overpayments,” the OIG stated in the analysis.
At the end of fiscal year 2023, there was $23 billion still left in uncollected overpayment balance, according to the watchdog. The report called improper payments a “longstanding challenge” for SSA.
The OIG said that improper payments not only burden beneficiaries but also create additional work for employees at SSA.
“Without better access to data, increased automation, systems modernization, and policy or legislative changes, improper payments will continue to be a major challenge for SSA into the future,” Anderson said at the time.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the agency for comment.
